New swab test predicts aging speed, death clock
Marie Donlon | October 15, 2024Dubbed CheekAge, the new tool uses methylation patterns found in cheek cells to reliably estimate mortality risk, even when epigenetic data from various tissues are used for analysis.
Epigenetic markers are chemical changes to DNA that do not alter the genetic code but that can impact how genes function. Specifically, methylation is one such change that is typically associated with aging. These patterns are subsequently used to create “age clocks” that estimate biological age and thus reveal the speed at which a person is aging.
“We also demonstrate that specific methylation sites are especially important for this correlation, revealing potential links between specific genes and processes and human mortality captured by our clock,” said Dr. Maxim Shokhirev, the study’s first author.
The team of researchers examined the methylation sites most strongly associated with mortality and identified genes located nearby that play a role in lifespan or the risk of age-related diseases.
Some of those identified included PDZRN4, which may function as a tumor suppressor, and ALPK2, which is a gene associated with cancer and cardiovascular health in animal studies. Other genes that were identified had been previously linked to conditions like cancer, osteoporosis, inflammation and metabolic syndrome.
The paper “CheekAge, a next-generation epigenetic buccal clock, is predictive of mortality in human blood,” appears in the journal Frontiers in Aging.